Governments all over have invested billions of dollars in reinforcing the health system, transforming primary care through a rapid rollout of tele-health, building pop-up facilities in preparation to cater for a surge of patients, new manufacturing capacity for protective equipment and the rollout of major mental health, aged care and special needs programs.

The spending is expected to continue with the latest upward spike in outbreak numbers, reminding us that the virus is still far from being contained.

COVID-19 will have a profound impact on ambitious plans to establish Australia as an Asia-Pacific hub for medtech (medical technology) and pharmaceutical companies (together referred to as MTP sector).

The MTP products market is now Australia’s largest manufacturing export, with an estimated A$8.2 billion which has doubled in value since 2016.

The initial response to COVID-19 saw MTP companies seeking ACCC approval to work together on COVID-19 therapies and vaccines. Australia was the first country to grow the virus, first cloning the virus then stepping up to run a large-scale genomic sequencing program to identify the source of infection.

Most of Australia’s research capacity comes from universities which, after border closures saw the sudden suspension of overseas students enrolments, causing struggles to continue funding. The threat to the pre-clinical and ongoing research as they are put on hold risk a generational loss of new companies and new investigations.

The post-pandemic future is comprised of innovation in medtech spanning digital health including mobile health, connected devices and wearables, telehealth and telemedicine, and personalised and precision medicine. Capital investments focused on the MTP industry and companies attracting foreign investment and the relevant capacities including skills and talent is key to this critical growth.